Dad's 60th Birthday Dinner!

This is a picture taken on my dad's actual birthday. My sister and I took him to Carrabbas. My mom was out of town, but she made up for it by taking him on a surprise Mediterranean cruise as a birthday gift!


While we have already celebrated my dad's birthday, it has been a tradition for quite a few years that I make him a coconut cream pie as part of his celebration. We haven't had it yet, so he gets another birthday dinner so we can have it for dessert! Here's what my sister and I both prepared:

Me: Tastefully Simple Fiesta Party Mix:

We really like this, so if you go to a Tastefully Simple Party, you should order it!

Me: Crack Dip...AKA, Buffalo Chicken Dip:

This recipe is called Crack Dip on my cooking board...for obvious reason...it's addicting!! I've had it before, but this is my first time making it! It was a hit!!

4 boiled chicken breasts, shredded

1 cup Franks Red Hot

1 cup Ranch Salad Dressing

1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar Cheese

16 oz Cream Cheese

Mix all ingredients, bake at 325 for 40 minutes. Serve with celery and tortilla chips.

Me: Absolute Mexican Corn Bread:

I found this recipe on bakespace.com which was posted by a girl named Abby. It was great!

1 cup butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
4 eggs
1 (15 ounce) can cream-style corn
1/2 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers, drained
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese-I used double :)
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese -I used double:)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
1 Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch
baking dish.
2 In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time.
Blend in cream corn, chiles, Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese.
3 In a separate bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal,baking powder and salt. Add
flour mixture to corn mixture;stir until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.
4 Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted into center of
the pan comes out clean.

My Sister: Salad:

I can't find the picture I took of the salad! It is so good though, it has become a favorite of ours. It is spinach and a romaine type lettuce (not iceburg). Mix with diced onions, bacon bits, cherry tomatoes halved, avocado, and toss with Sturkey's creamy balsalmic vinegrette. Yum!

My Sister: Shrimp Quesadillas:

The idea for this recipe came from Better Homes and Gardens. This is not a good picture, but hopefully you can get the idea from the list of ingredients. They were great and a nice change from your normal quesadilla!

Spinach tortillas

red pepper hummus

feta cheese

mixed vegetables (she used corn, green beans, and asparagus)

cooked frozen shrimp, thawed

Spread hummus over tortilla, place shrimp, vegetables and cheese on one side and fold over. Place them all on cooking sheet and bake at 350 until heated through.

My Sister: Oreo Truffles:

This recipe is from Kraft foods, and is a recommendation from my cooking board. They were awesome! Someone on the cooking board suggested using mint oreos for Christmas time...those would be wonderful!

1 pkg. (1 lb., 2 oz.) OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, melted

CRUSH 9 of the cookies to fine crumbs in food processor; reserve for later use. (Cookies can also be finely crushed in a resealable plastic bag using a rolling pin.) Crush remaining 36 cookies to fine crumbs; place in medium bowl. Add cream cheese; mix until well blended. Roll cookie mixture into 42 balls, about 1-inch in diameter.
DIP balls in chocolate; place on wax paper-covered baking sheet. (Any leftover chocolate can be stored at room temperature for another use.) Sprinkle with reserved cookie crumbs.
REFRIGERATE until firm, about 1 hour. Store leftover truffles, covered, in refrigerator

Me: Coconut Cream Pie:

One summer, I think it was before I could drive, I baked a ton to pass time. We always enjoy coconut cream pie, so I decided I would try one for my dad's birthday...it was awesome!

A long time friend of the family, Dave, also has a birthday around the same time as my dad's. That first year, his wife, Cindy, gave me $10 to make him one after we realized that I was a great baker!...it is also one of his favorites! Ever since that first year, I have been making 2 coconut cream pies sometime over the summer, one for my dad's birthday and one for Dave's...(Cindy and Dave are not charged, they get them for free now as a yummy birthday gift :) !!!) I was told that mine are as good, if not better, than the ones Dave's mom always made for him...shhhhhh!!!!!

Here is the recipe...it is straight out of the "old school" Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. However, the secret to making it so good is to use about twice the amount of coconut the recipe calls for :) Also, I no longer make my own crust :( I did for several years. I think last year was the first year I didn't...it's such a pain. I'll tell you what though...the Pillsbury pie crust you can buy that just rolls out, is pretty darn good and looks homemade.

This is for one 9-inch pie:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

3 cups milk

4 eggs

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 9-inch baked pastry shell

For filling, in a medium saucepan combine sugar, flour, and salt. Gradually stil in milk. Cook and stir over medum heat until theickend and bubbly. Reduce heat and cook and stir 2 more minutes. Remove from heat. Separate egg yolks from whites, set whites aside for meringue. Beat egg yolks slightly. Gradually stir 1 cup of the hot mixture into yolks. Return egg mixture to saucepan, bring to a gentle boil and cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla. Stir in COCONUT!!! Pour hot filling into baked pastry shell. Spread meringue over hot filling and seal to the edge. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes or until gold. Sprinkle with toasted coconut. Cool. Cover. Chill overnight before serving.

Meringue:

4 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 cup sugar

In a medum mixer bowl. beat the egg whites, vanilla, and cream of tartar at meduim speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar and beat at high speed until stiff glossy peaks form. Immediately spread over pie, carefully sealing to edge of pastry to prevent shrinkage.

I had to add this picture in...my sisters dog, Sammy (the gold one), and my dog, Housh, are best friends. We both got them around the same time. They play non stop when they are together. It's hilarious...even when they get tired, they feel like they have to keep going. My dog slobbers, so when they are done playing, it looks like Sammy just got a bath...gross! It's hard to tell in this picture, but my dog weighs twice as much as my sisters...I was trying to get a picture of Housh dragging Sammy across the floor by her collar...it was so funny!!